The Chunin Exams: Song of Shima
, ANBU Logs}} It Begins Light gleamed across Shima's parietal eyes, blinking as sought to locate her prey through the her physical sensory alone. The environment, her hunting grounds, was a forest on the outskirts of the territory that was home to the Hidden Leaf. Dark and endless, the forest sought to pull all that entered, into the arms of nefarious beasts that called the wilds their own. She had came here for a reason - a beast had been heard of. Not by rumor, not by mission, not a solitary soul had told her why she was here, or to what the creature might be. It was the call to the wild, a beast rivaling her own savage nature. After the events of the Forest of Death, it was all she could dream about. Thrashing in bed, the lizard breathes heavily... her memories playing before her eyes, lost in a drifting dream. Lost in the moment prior to the hunt, relishing in the vision she had been given every night preluding to this very event. A rite of passage that Shima felt was of necessity in order to grow. Her scales fluttered lightly, breathing on their own, raising and lowering in a ripple from her feet to her toes, pluming near her neck and hair. Dangererous, teeth snap, a roar bellows to the dreamer..., there it was, crisp and clear as it was every night. The image of her prey. A hunter as she, and one worthy of challenging even Shima to a battle. The teeth snap again, eyes peer from the darkness of my mind... Shima felt her knuckles clinch in apprehension, claws flexing outward in serrated measure. Her own eyes widen as she peers into the spirit visage of the monster that called her to the deep forest, unafraid. A kindred spirit, an honorable foe. And at last, the memory and dream shifted to reality, and a roar shook the forests awake. "Scraaaooorrr!", and so it begins! Shima launched from her branch, dipping into the speckled light underneath the large canopy from above. Wind whistled past her ears and through her wild hair, unkempt brown dreads fastened down to her body. The whisking of gentle leaves were the only noise as the Gila of the Leaf bounced from limb to limb in a silent hush. Springing off of a flexible branch, Shima darted above the canopy for but a moment, squinting through the bright light. Bathing in it for the brief second she was there, and back under. Her scales gleamed, her tail tucked neatly in tow. Her gear, nonexistent. Only a bare series of leather straps going across her chest and legs, lithe muscles flexing against the slight pressure. A simple hakama atop her legs and a loincloth dipping between her thighs. And as the last bit of light hit her eyes, one saw the distinct markings of tribal paint, arcing into savage branches from the corners of eyelids. Swooping back below, Shima bypassed the branches along the way, catching sight of many birds and animals that lay still from the deadly beast that had roared not long ago. It's roar continued, echoing through the forest. Rustling the branches and limbs around her; upsetting all of nature. It was calling to her. "You have been heard!" Hunting the Beast Shima's heart raced, skidding across the ground, her body shooting across in epic bounds. Her scales melding with the colors of the world around her, blending her in with it to provide natural cover. Little in the animal world saw her, so effortlessly skirting through the forest. Her breath was tight against her torso, hearbeat threatening to pulse through her chest. She felt the pulse of the world around her, the heartbeat of each animal in this forest. Every bird, every mammal, every creature in the trees and burrowed in the ground. Her senses vibrated outward, a chakra flow technique that allowed her awareness of her foes. Sending a pulse of chakra from each step, she used a variant of echo location on her surroundings, giving her view of the hidden. Shima's eyes gleamed with dark yellow green texture, catching anything with a heat signature by her thermal viewing. A technique her body adapted from the many lizards she had consumed through her Hiroigui. Shima's legs sprinted over a small stream, trenched into the ground and surrounding by smooth rock. The wind blowing past her sent her loin and hakama billowing back. Her mind dipped into memory. -- A young girl pulled out of a river, scarred, beaten, and broken. Lungs filled with water and terror struck her bloodshot eyes. The dark skinned girl, no older then four, begged for air to breathe, shots of pain rolled through her back and face. Tears flowed freely with the water that rolled off her, and dried. "She's alive?" the voice of a man, so blurred by time, a foggy vision. Features that would threaten others, menacing and tall. A secondary voice arouse from beside her, a woman now cupping the nearly drowned girl's cheek, "It's a miracle she is..." -- Shima blinked, warding off the hazy backdrop. That was a day she was nearly killed, and the day the river gave birth to her. Keep pushing forward... her own voice trickled inside her head, keeping her in motion. Down the stream is where she needed to go, the beast's voice still called in the wild, and it was down this bubbling brook where it waited for her. Rubbing her eyes, the Gila Girl darted down the growing steam, now small river tributary, lost in thought as she did so. A straight shot to her prey from here. Looking to the skies, she found the sun at a couple hours past noon, lining up the shadows of the forest trees perfectly to hide everything below the canopy. Safe and secure. Mind drifting to the recesses, Shima felt safe enough to think of life. There was no threat here, and she would feel it before it came regardless. A slight dropping of guard to break her tension, to pick through her emotions. The forest always did that to her, drew out her emotions and let her flow freely. It felt, relaxing. Even on this vision quest, on a hunt for rite of passage. Glancing through the shadows, she found little white eyes peering at her as she ran across the flowing tributary. Their tiny white eyes reminded her of Akemi's... living, yet empty and devoid. "Princess bitch." Shima couldn't help but utter the words outloud as she reminded herself of her ally and comrade. If they were even that. No, of that she was unsure. Allies by commission, rivals by nature. Akemi was her antithesis, one that drove her insane. The brat got whatever she wanted, handed to her on a silver platter, all her life it was like this. And to what ends? She only cast it aside; she had no idea of the role in the world she could have had. A snobbish imp that had no idea of being grateful. Shima grit her teeth against her snarled lips, "As if she didn't have every reason not to be..." Daughter of the Hokage. Heiress to the Leaf, unrivaled in her socity, peerless in beauty. Why was she so perfect? Does she have everything? Shima could not help but wonder as she stared into the white empty eyes as she ran through the forest. Was Akemi blessed, or cursed? To this question, Shima groped for an answer. Finding only void and more questions peering around the corners of her own mind. A thought for later. Lub Dub! Shima felt her heart pound through her chest, resonating into the forest as something caught sight of her. Sweet Killing Intent washed over her entire body and unsettled her mind, ripping her from her daze. A menacing swipe of claws, shredding through the air, taking the Gila Girl by surprise. The hunter, was being hunted. Lured into a trap. Shima hissed in pain, feeling the raking of dangerous nails scraping against her razor scales, sending her flying against a narrow tree, snapping it in half on her plummet. The monster's own killer intent had let her some margin for error, warning her before the attack. Shielding her own body from the brunt of the damage with crossed arms and a coiled tail, Shima slid across the ground with bruises to show for the first attack. Splintered wood slipping off her scales as she stood, only for the beast to continue it's onslaught. Another series of claws, one hand. Again, from a second hand. In a horizontal sweep, the predator lunged at the Date, pushing her to the defensive and making up for it's previous failure. Shima had little time to adjust, pulling her legs tight, the Gila sprang backwards from the zealous barrage the animal was sending her way. With vital assessment, Shima met the creature's eyes at last, with enough distance to retrieve full view of the beast. Her spirit beast, bringing her eyes to widen. The menacing figure hissed as their eyes met, reptilian kindred. Vibrant green sclera surrounding a single black slit, surrounded by black pitted dots. A face and body drawing Shima to believe the thing before her was a female, it's long body curving into a near breasted frame, dark orange scales shifting patterns with golden flecks. Illustrious coloring and a seductive frame, accentuated arms that hanged low to the earth, powerful and lithe. Claws on the ends, recently used to attack her, ivory white, hooks on each thumb, likely opposable. The perfect sculpted bodes, raised to a singular snake head, that bridged five more. The colors more articulated towards red and yellow. Fangs extending from black gums, dripping with what she knew as venom. Standing tall, sixteen feet tall in length. It stood before her, a Nagai. As soon as the image was taken in, she felt her body feel hazed over. The beauty of it, the crystal clear eyes, prismatic colors, her breasts, her per- It was then, that the creature took advantage of the gift nature had given it. Striking with it's primary head, the beast sought to tear out Shima's heart. Snapping out of the delusional hypnosis, the Konoha nin brought her own claws up, striking the Nagai before it could finish her off. Hissing and snarling in pain, her foe reeled back, coiling for another series of strikes. Shima took no time in waiting, circulating her chakra through her body at rapid rates; pulsing through her muscles and bones. Her entire body rapidly charging for her own offensive. Twisting her frame, she bounded across the field, slipping past the creature as it struck at her, barely evading the fangs dripping with venom. Not yet forgetting about the remainder of the heads, each one diving towards her in a rhythm, one-two-three and four-five. As the motion of her body bounded, she twirled her frame, building up her momentum. Reversal, pivoting around the frame of the large opponent. Each head banging against the ground as it missed their mark. Growling in retaliation; it soon felt pain from Shima. Shima felt the chakra surging through her body pour into her long nails, extending their length by several inches, serrating them. Sinking her favorite hunting tools into her prey, the beast snarled as weapon met armor. Grinding against the steel like frame of the tightly bound scales, they sank inward. Tearing apart the defenses of the Nagai, bleeding, it thrashed in reaction. Winding it's own tail rapidly, then uncoiling it. The Nagai pressed Shima against the brunt of it's body, and shot her towards the forest scape once more. Crash! Crash! Shima growled in pain, the strength of the creature was phenomenal. Impact! Impact! Her body crashing into several rocks, her rocketing body slamming against a large willow. Hissing back at her, Shima opened her eyes, wary of a new attack to be formed. The Nagai was gone. Her own scales blunted and bruised, Shima gazed towards her arms and legs briefly. Catching sight of the pain that seeped from her own body. Her own armor was peeling off of her, held to her body by only a sticky gel, a mixture of her own hybrid fluids and blood. Regeneration trying to keep her 'skin' held together, but at little cost. The scales that were already off, were merely dead flesh at this point. New ones would grow in soon enough. The Gila Girl let out a sharp intake of breath, sending out her own senses into the surroundings. Nothing but leaves, earth, trees, the river not far behind and... there! The Nagai was slithering low to the earth, feeling the vibrations of it's scales sliding across the earth. Not too far away, it was going to launch a sneak attack. "You are my prey, Nagai! Not the other way around!" Her fangs ripped from her snarled lips, waving her head back in a fiery passion, her arms extended in a open stance. Taunting the beast to come out into the open and attack her. Come out and play... the hunt was to be enjoyed! - And there it was, the Nagai peeled from it's hiding spot, to her left, the many heads darting all at once in snapping bites. It's arms shoving it forward in an aggressive lunge. Shima grinned in sadistic glee, forming her own primal energy through her, she coiled her muscles in her legs and tail, shoving off the ground as the teeth of the creature passed close to her front. Jumping to the air and the branches of the canopy above, she flipped her entire body over, catching the large limb above with her feet. And before the creature could react, her own body shot back down, kinetic perfection. The beast in Shima roared out, and the Nagai was ill prepared for the speed it was unable to keep up with, each of it's eyes stared up at her, as if in surprise. Shima brought down her fist, slamming her knuckles into the spine of the Nagai, a weak spot of every animal. The earth quaked, and wind rustled the trees as the energy from her Reptile Technique: Snaptrap came into play. All fell still, and the Nagai felt the fury of the Gila Kunoichi. Her anger, her entire emotion brought into it. "Yes! This is what I'm talking about!" her chakra flow was perfect. What she had been training for the many weeks prior to this very moment. Every minute of training, all to hone her own spiritual and physical energy. Yin and Yang, perfect, symbiotic. Working together with the natural energy of her spirit animal, the Reptile. And it all came crashing down on the Nagai. Snap... A noise to Shima's ears, the sound of breaking bones. The spine splintering from the blow, it's body fell dull and pulseless. Only it's eyes moving around in concordance with it's thoughts. A groan uttering from each head. Defeated and broken. Shima breathed calmly, exerted but in control. Now standing on her greatest prize, a creature that haunted her dreams for each night she slept. Her spirit visage. Shima slid off the frame of the slumped Nagai, looking to it's spectacular body. A feast beyond compare, a worthy hunt. It watched her intently, acknowledging it's defeat in begrudging submission. Never breaking it's gaze from her, every pair of eyes on her every pulse and tick. It did not go unnoticed by the spirit hunter, "You have haunted me, only to serve me. To be guide, my sacrifice for passage." Her words dropping off her tongue in poisonous honey, so sweet, vicious. The body of Shima, bruised and bleeding, her pain fueled her pleasure. Enjoying it, enjoying the post battle. Grasping the blood from her own wounds, whipping it across her tongue for a brief taste. Slurping off the iron sanguine ichor. "Too good... isn't it?" goading the fate of the animal. "To think, with you and me fornicating in spirit, your body with mine..." Shima's own scales fluttered in a frilled manner, extenuating their enjoyment and bliss at the thought. "Your power is strong; and it shall be ours." Kneeling down on the dusty ground, facing the side of her ultimate prey. "A creature so magnificent should be savored..." sliding her hands sensually over the many necks of the Nagai, stroking it provokingly, nails sliding across the shimmering summer scales. Her own energies began flowing, from her stomach, to her teeth. Preparing for the Hiroigui's processes. Her entire body wracked with hunger, thirst, pleasure, and pain at the adjustments her soul and body were making together. And at last, she was ready. "Die well." Shima's teeth sank in, rending the flesh and bone of the creature. A Date woman, on the epic of her hunt, the finale and reward. Feast and Revelations Shima looked down at her feast, or, the bones of what remained. A single skull, with the coiled spine the Nagai. A ritualistic scene, a series of seals formed around the formation of the skull. The patterns were different, unnatural to most proficient in Fuinjutsu. Marked with the blood of the defeated, the marks represented transferal and reincarnation. Not truly a Fuinjutsu technique; merely a blind instinct in Shima lead her to scrawl the markings after a spiritual kill. "Give me my reward..." blood seeped from her reptilian lips, dripping to the ground and onto the skull and bones. Fashioning a twisted and malice filled grin, she spat out at the remains of the corpse. Her eyes, mad and raving with no sign of content. No signs of being sated, Shima's hunger and thirst unnerving the nature around her. Her spirit cried for her sanctification, what she deserved! Red ichor coated her chest, once brown and green scales, now sanguine, still wet from the eaten. Shima's breath, ragged and erratic, heartbeat racing faster and faster. "Yes..." Shima began to laugh, at first lightly, then it broke into a sinister cackle. Chakra in her body began tingling each nerve, from the inside out her body changed. The spirit and body of the Nagai was now becoming hers. Energy, power! Look at me now supposed gods... raising her hands to the skies, she opened her arms in a fanatical glee. The woods began to rustle, not from the wind, but from the chakra that was circulating from Shima. Uncontrolled, unrestrained, it adapted her. The animals that lived in the trees and in the earth could only hold their own in silence, in fear that the beast exuding the hate would kill them as it had slain the giant before it. The very air began to vibrate around her, vibrations formed under her feet. Every sense on a high, her sight taking in the world's grim colors. Taste buds tingling with the feast recently consumed, her ears whirred with every pulse of her own heart. Her entire body tingled with euphoria, aroused and given the fleshly enjoyment she craved after the hunt was completed. The Nagai was glorious! A voice creeped from her lips, "More!" shouting to the forest, she howled out the plea for the drug called power that she was currently under. At last, the change began to manifest itself. Pooling from all over, her chakra vibrated from each core, her coils on overload. Processing, adapting, evolving beyond that of what she once was. Nails began to become razor sharp, hooked on the thumb. Her scales, now flowed with chakra. An abnormality that was once impossible for her. Shima's eyes gleamed with an inward light, glowing in the dim light of the forest undergrowth. Physically, she felt empowered. Spiritually, she was in heaven. The thrill of the hunt was her reward, and it was coming to a close. Unfathomable... Shima's lips pursed into a crooked and elated smile, head tilted back far enough to where her gaze faced the skies, peeking through the opening of the canopy. The Hiroigui had been finished. Shima had found prey that haunted, and hunted her. And came out on top. It Renews Path of the Animal Corrupted Primal It Ends, the Vision Category:Chunin Exams Category:Shima Date